The present subject matter relates generally to compositions and methods for the production of a fast dissolve technology to be used for the delivery of an agent.
A large variety of dosage forms for oral ingestion are known and readily available in the medical field. The most common of these is the tablet. The main limitations of pharmaceutical tablets include poor patient compliance due to difficulty in swallowing and lack of bioavailability of the active through ineffective dissolution of the tablet.
Fast dissolving technologies are convenient to use and are often used to increase the bioavailability of the agent within the tablet once dissolved. There are many forms of fast dissolving technologies, for example, “loosely” compressed tablets comprising a large amount of wicking/disintegrating agents, tablets comprising a large amount of effervescent agents, and lyophilized tablets. Most commonly, lyophilized, fast dissolving technologies, which are designed to release the active ingredient in the oral cavity, are formulated using rapidly dissolving matrices. These dosage forms are well known and can be used to deliver a wide range of drugs.
However, conventional fast dissolving technologies have a multitude of disadvantages. Many fast dissolving tablets or compositions do not actually fully dissolve, or dissolve to satisfaction for optimal efficacy. Tablets and compositions that are fast dissolving rely on high porosity compositions formed using freeze dried formation processes. However, such high porosity results in a fragile compositions that typically require specialized packaging to maintain the structural integrity of the composition. Specialized packaging and specialized packaging processes for such fragile compositions contribute to an increase is manufacturing costs and production time. However, tablets that have improved structural integrity typically have slower dissolving times, and, thus, can have reduced biologic efficacy as well as poor organoleptic properties hindering compliance.
Accordingly, there is a need of fast dissolve technologies, specifically coupling of fast dissolve properties with required physical attributes of strength/robustness required for commercial production and distribution.